“A string of violent robberies in the Pacific Northwest leads veteran FBI agent Terry Husk to a white supremacist group; the group plans to overthrow the federal government.”
Score: 7/10
tl,dr: an engaging true crime thriller of feds vs white supremacists, good but not great.
Based on the “chilling” true story of some white supremacists getting up to no good in Idaho back in the early 80s, The Order stars Jude Law as a grizzled old FBI agent (Terry Husk) against a young, charismatic racist played by Nicholas Hoult (Bob Matthews). Terry arrives to the quaint town of Couer D’Alene, Idaho to investigate a missing person and begins sulking around town and enlisting the help of local law enforcement – Tye Sheriden’s character, Jamie Bowen. It appears on top of a missing person there have been other strange happenings like bank robberies and bombs planted at pornography theaters. Side note: I’m not sure there’s a more embarrassing way to die than at a porno theater, in Idaho, blown up by white supremacists. Imagine explaining that one to St Peter at the Pearly Gates. Anyway… we follow along Bob Matthews and his offshoot of racists (they’re too radical for the Aryan Nations, which is saying something) as they increase their presence in the Pacific Northwest while Terry Husk and his nose that won’t stop bleeding try to catch them.
The premise, and the movie as a whole, lacks originality although the execution is admittedly excellent. A grizzled, angry, estranged-from-his-family FBI agent arriving in a podunk town to overly involve himself in an investigation – I feel like I’ve seen that before in about 100 movies … all of which were entertaining now that I think about it & this one’s no different. That said, unlike The Departed (2006) or Wind River (2017), I didn’t find myself really caring about any of the characters. Bob Matthews (Nicholas Hoult) – kind of thinks he’s a messiah and is also a white supremacists….not a lot to like there. Terry Husk (Jude Law) – angry old cop, generally unhappy, I wonder why he’s so estranged from his family? The only exception is Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheriden) – dragged into this mess by trying to do the right thing.
In the end, it’s a solid movie that you can enjoy for a few hours and then sort of forget you ever watched after a few days.
Spoilers / Reaction:
- I’m a little confused by the purpose of a Brinks truck after watching this movie. I thought they were armored vehicles, with run-flat tires, bulletproof glass, etc – basically civilian tanks for moving valuables between locations or in this case, banks. I mean I’ve seen The Italian Job (2003) so I’m basically an expert. In this movie? Nope. At the first sign of danger, at MULTIPLE times in this movie, the armed security forces surrender and GET OUT of the Brinks Truck. Make it make sense.
- I couldn’t stop thinking of Clayton Bigsby during every scene in the “church” up at Hayden Lake.
- I, for one, didn’t know the FBI was allowed to just light a house on fire while a fugitive is hiding in it and refuses to come out. Seemed a little bit overly aggressive, but then again, don’t be a racist bank robber trying to take over the world.